Women's satisfaction with decision-making related to augmentation of labour

Objective: to describe women's experiences of participating in decision-making related to augmentation of tabour. Design: a qualitative approach using modified grounded theory technique. Open-ended interviews were conducted 1-3 days after childbirth. Setting: the interviews were performed in the postnatal wards in five hospitals (tertiary level) in Stockholm, Sweden. Participants: 20 newly delivered women who had received oxytocin infusion for augmentation of tabour during childbirth. Findings and key conclusions: support and guidance from midwives in combination with knowledge and expectations about the intervention seemed to be important for women's satisfaction with decision-making concerning augmentation of tabour. Four patterns of decision-making were found. One group of women participated in the decision-making regarding augmentation of tabour white a second group was invited, but refrained from participation. These women were satisfied with the decisions made. A third group of women did not participate, but wanted to and they were dissatisfied with the decisions made. The fourth group did not participate in the decision-making-and did not want to. These women accepted the decisions made. The desire for information exceeded the desire for involvement in decision-making and the majority of women had confidence in the midwives' assessment. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.